Gold smuggler with 'TMC link' held

A cattle smuggler from Basirhat, who is reportedly a Trinamool Congress leader and the brother of an influential member of North 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad, was arrested by Central Board of Excise and Customs on Saturday evening for allegedly smuggling 45kg gold worth Rs 13 crore at Kalini in Deganga.

TNN | Updated: Mar 10, 2014, 05:38 IST

KOLKATA: A cattle smuggler from Basirhat, who is reportedly a Trinamool Congress leader and the brother of an influential member of North 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad, was arrested by Central Board of Excise and Customs on Saturday evening for allegedly smuggling 45kg gold worth Rs 13 crore at Kalini in Deganga.
Abdul Barik Biswas, the accused, was produced in the Bankshall Court and remanded in judicial custody till March 12. Officials claimed that this is the biggest haul of such a huge quantity of gold in the state in recent time.

"A cattle smuggler, Barik started taking his commission for smooth transfer of thousands of cattle across the border in the form of gold as he was upset with the steady devaluation of both Indian rupee and Bangladeshi taka," a Trinamool leader in North 24-Parganas said on condition of anonymity.

"For every 10 grams gold smuggled from Bangladesh to India, he used to make a profit of Rs 4,000 to 5,000. He enjoyed great relation with top Trinamool leaders of North 24-Parganas and one of the MPs from here. After Barik's brother,, became a member of North 24-Parganas zilla parishad, his influence grew stronger," the leader added.

But, food and supplies minister Jyotipriya Mullick rubbished the claims. "Our party does not even have remote relations with him. His brother belongs to our party. But Barik is a mafia and cattle smuggler. I will personally lead deputation against him demanding his arrest."

However, several Trinamool supporters in Basirhat said that Barik changed camp from CPM to Congress and finally to Trinamool according to his convenience and to protect his business interest. Sources said he used to generously donate to the party fund. His rising influence in the party left a lot of old-timers unhappy. The arrest, party insiders said, was a fallout of the infighting.

"He has been doing this for last two decades without facing any problem. How come was he arrested on Saturday?" asked another member. They said that if he is questioned properly, some truths, uncomfortable for both the ruling Trinamool and its predecessor CPM, would tumble out.

Ten per cent import duty on gold spurred unprecedented smuggling and authorities crack the whip, smugglers are skipping the traditional airport route and are tapping into fake currency networks across the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Nepal border to push in the yellow metal.

Investigations and seizures by financial intelligence agencies in the recent past have revealed that smugglers are now flying consignments of gold to Bangladesh and Nepal and then using couriers to carry them across the border.

In the past few months, over 100 kg of gold have been smuggled across the Indo-Bangladesh border alone. Sources in Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said Nepal has also come up on the radar with some recent seizures on the border. Sources said this was only a fraction of what is being smuggled out through these borders.

more from times of india Cities

All Comments ()+^ Back to Top

Characters Remaining: 3000

Continue without login

or

Login from existing account

FacebookGoogleEmail

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.